Seven Reasons NLC's Volunteers Are The Best

1. Many of them get to campus incredibly early on Sunday mornings - for many their only real day off - to create irresistible environments for guests.

2. Out of a total volunteer pool of nearly 400, I have never met a prima donna. Not once. In nearly five years.

3. The women on the First Impressions team are willing to wear the identical t-shirt every week so that guests can readily identify them. Now, this is not a big deal for dudes - "Cool, a free t-shirt" - but it is for ladies. Thank you, ladies.

4. They encourage each other. I see this all the time. And that encourages me, mightily.

5. This is crazy - but oftentimes a volunteer will stop me and say "thanks for letting me serve". My initial response is "Are you kidding me? YOU are thanking ME?". And then I remember that, truly, the happiest people in a church are the ones who are invested, not only financially but in terms of time and talent as well.

6. They are creative. Many of the best ideas for improving our ministry come not from staff, but from volunteers. This shows that they are invested, and that they care - they are not just filling a slot on a nonprofit org chart.

7. They are unified. We are not a perfect church by any means, but I have never been part of a church more unified around a mission and set of core values, free of politics and wholly focused on creating environments where disconnected people can get connected to God and people already connected to God can take their next right spiritual step. I can't tell you how big of a deal that is!